In the Dark of the Night
by polarlys
Summary: In the weeks following the Carter and Sadie's battle against Set at the Red Pyramid, Amos still struggles with the aftermath of his ordeal.


Sadie awoke to the dark silence of her room in Brooklyn House. Still dazed with sleep, she glanced at her clock. The numbers 2:00 AM glowed faintly in the dark. It wasn't immediately apparent what had roused her from her sleep – she couldn't remember any _ba_ trip or nightmare, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that she needed to get out of bed.

Perplexed, she trudged to her door. Maybe Carter or Khufu had knocked? Or perhaps Isis had tried sending her a message? Only a few weeks had passed since their battle against Set, and Sadie still keenly felt her separation from the goddess of magic.

She opened her door to the hallway and found it empty. Carter's door was shut tight and Khufu was sound asleep in the Great Room. Still, she had a nagging feeling in the back of her head, like someone or some_thing_ magical was calling to her, reaching out. She and Carter had done their best to repair the wards of the mansion, so there shouldn't be any unexpected visitors, but just to be safe, she grabbed her magician's bag from the side of her bed and slung it over her shoulder as she crept out of the room.

Closing her eyes, Sadie tried to pinpoint where the magical pull was leading her. Tiredness lulled her into a trancelike state, and her feet seemed to move of their own accord, taking her to the source of the magic. With a start, Sadie realized she was standing in front of Amos' room, with her hand on the doorknob. She hesitated. Should she really go in? Since they'd returned to Brooklyn House after the battle with Set, he'd barely spoken and spent most of the day in his room or on the balcony, staring out at the Manhattan skyline. Would he really want his niece barging into his bedroom in the middle of the night?

Sadie tested the handle of the door. It was locked. All logic told her that this was a sign she shouldn't go in, but she worried for her uncle. In the time since his possession by Set, Amos had lost too much weight and looked so gaunt. Plus, her magical senses were telling that her that it was her uncle's magic that had reached out and led her here.

"_Sahad_," she whispered, and the lock clicked open. Tentatively, she pushed open the door. "Uncle Amos?" Sadie asked softly.

There was no response. Instead, she found her uncle curled up in bed, shivering. His enchanted headrest was pushed to the side.

"Uncle Amos?" she asked again, quietly shutting the door and setting her magician's bag on the ground. Amos' only response was to whimper feebly into the sheets. Sitting beside him, Sadie reached out to place her hand on his forehead. Even before she made contact with his skin, she could tell he was feverish, but the moment she touched his brow, she was swept into a memory.

Suddenly, Sadie was seeing the Demon Days events through Amos' eyes – his realization that he was being possessed by Set, being forced to sabotage Brooklyn House's wards, being captured and humiliated outside the growing Red Pyramid, finding Carter and Sadie and trying to warn them, to protect them: summoning chaos magic in his duel with Desjardins, turning Carter and Sadie and Zia into storm clouds, fighting Set with every ounce of his will and praying that someone, _anyone_ would free him from the prison that was his body and mind.

Sadie felt Amos' grief at the loss of his brother, his anguish as his will was shattered by the god of evil, his despair as Set forced him to seal the pyramid air shaft and tell his only niece and nephew that "now it's time we talked" with a smile on his face, and his desperation as he fought with the last shred of his magic to stop Set from destroying them with their own uncle's form.

Jerking her hand away, Sadie found herself back next to Amos, who was still curled in a shivering ball. His forehead was disturbingly hot, and she was certain that if she didn't wake him soon, his memories would start to burn him up. She wasn't entirely sure how she knew this – perhaps it was knowledge from Isis – a leftover from Sadie's time as the Eye of the goddess. Sadie tried to shake her uncle awake, but he curled in on himself even more. In desperation, she rested her fingers on his brow, speaking a word from one of Isis's memories: "Wake. _Nehes_." The golden hieroglyph glowed on his forehead, and Amos sat bolt upright, eyes wide open.

"R-Ruby?" he gasped, as he tried to focus on his niece. "N-no, S-Sadie?"

"I'm here," she reassured him. "It's me, Sadie, Uncle Amos."

Before she could move, Amos threw his arms around her, burying his head into her shoulder as sobs racked his body.

"I'm sorry…so sorry…" he whispered, trailing off.

Sadie just hugged him back.

The room was silent, save for the sounds of Amos' anguished sobs. Time seemed to stand still as Sadie tried to console her uncle, who clung desperately to her like a drowning man to a life raft. After what felt like hours, Amos whispered again in a strangled voice, "I'm so sorry."

Silence fell again, almost too fragile to be broken.

"Don't blame yourself," Sadie managed, throat tight and on the verge of tears herself. Seeing her strong, confident uncle – one of her last living family members – so utterly broken made her heart ache with an intensity only matched when her mother died and her father left. "I– I'm so sorry. That I didn't act sooner…"

To her surprise, Amos let out a bitter laugh. "It…had to be that way. Spell…wouldn't…have worked…otherwise…"

Silence again. How on earth was Sadie supposed to respond to that? Regardless, this was the most Amos had spoken since his possession. That had to be good.

Sadie tightened her hug. Her uncle's next words almost sent her into a sobbing fit.

"So much…like your mother..." he murmured. "Ruby…would be so proud…"

The lump in Sadie's throat made it impossible to respond, but Amos continued anyway.

"And Julius… My poor brother… I couldn't do anything. It—It's my fault— my fault that he's gone—" he choked out, breaking into sobs again.

With a jolt, Sadie realized that he was referring to Set's presence in the British Museum. Amos had been there, trying to stop her dad and Set must have used her uncle as an anchor to manifest himself when he trapped her dad and Osiris in the sarcophagus.

"Don't tell Carter," Amos implored.

"It's not your fault," Sadie told him. "He'll understand."

"Please."

"Okay, okay, I won't," she promised, hugging him again.

Hours passed, and before she knew it, the sky was turning light with the approaching dawn. Amos had finally fallen asleep – using his headrest this time – and Sadie was keeping vigil at his side. Her uncle's sleeping form clutched her hand like a lifeline, but his sleep had been peaceful.

Sitting straight up, Sadie realized that she too must have nodded off for a bit, as the rising sun was now starting to peak through the skyscraper forest that was Manhattan. Glancing at the clock, she knew that Carter would be stirring soon. She should get back to her room before she had to recount her night to her brother. She wouldn't usually keep something like this from him, but certain things discussed in the heart of the night are not meant to see the light of day. During her accidental trip through her uncle's memories, she had experienced his emotions and realized just how violated he felt by Set's possession. Now his niece had seen him and comforted him at his most vulnerable – this was something that Carter didn't need to know about.

Gently, Sadie tried to free her hand from Amos' grasp without waking him, but before she could, he stirred, struggling to open his eyes.

"Rest," she told him gently. "I'm just going back to my room to get ready for the day."

"Just between us…" he pleaded faintly.

"Don't worry, Uncle Amos," Sadie reassured him, "I won't tell a soul." She leaned over to kiss his forehead. "Sleep now."

Amos squeezed her hand and drifted back to sleep. Sadie crept back to the hallway, but when she looked back at him just before she closed his door, she spotted a faint smile on his lips – his first one in weeks. Sadie felt a small smile spread across her own lips as well, her spirits slightly lighter.

As she slowly made her back to her own room, Amos' memories and emotions played through her head, realizing just how deep the scars from her uncle's possession reached. His will had been completely shattered and his soul almost burnt out. But he was talking, more than he had since the battle. He no longer seemed like an empty husk of his former self. He had to be improving.

Back in her room, as the sun rose higher in the sky and Sadie prepared herself for another grueling day of repairs, a sense of optimism set in. It would take time, but her uncle was strong. He was resilient. He _would_ recover. Her Uncle Amos would return.


End file.
